


A Decision

by BubblyShip



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Altertale (Undertale), Altertale Sans, Betrayal, Character Death, Completed, F/F, F/M, Finished, King Papyrus, King Papyrus (Undertale), Resets, Soriel, Time Travel, altertale, altertale papyrus - Freeform, done, hinted soriel, little frisk, not too much there though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:06:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26054668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblyShip/pseuds/BubblyShip
Summary: "Knock Knock.""...""Who's there?""...""Cow says.""...""Cow says who?""...""No, the cow says moo!""...""Knock knock.""...Who's there?"~~~~~~Toriel had become quiet happy with her life. She had an awesome brother, a nice house, she had grown close to all of her friends, and the monsters only needed one more human soul to escape. Not to mention she had a free door to practice all of her jokes on.But one day, someone answered.Over time, Toriel and the voice behind the door had grown close between their knock knock jokes, Everyday she would go there and they would practice for some time before she would leave once more.But one day, she learned his name, and it all went downhill there.Knowing the man behind the door was the long lost brother of one of her lifelong friends, King Papyrus, she had to make a decision. Tell her King about his brothers location, or keep it secret and lie.In the end, her decision might affect everyone.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Sans/Toriel (Undertale)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1 - Meeting Him

The sound of crunching snow filled the air as the short monster walked, her long ears jumping off of her shoulder as she walked. Her fluffy hands were stuck inside of her pockets, her shuffling not ceasing as she met more deeper snow. Her feet had no socks or shoes, but that was alright, since her fur could withstand the snow she was walking through. The monster was wearing a short, light purple turtleneck dress underneath a dark purple hoodie.

The female's name was Toriel, a monster stuck inside of the underground. She was known for being rather lazy in the snow covered town, always sleeping on her job and going to Grillby's constantly. She was also well known for saying enough puns for every monster in the underground.

Her favorite puns, though, were the knock knock joke versions.

She just really liked knock knock jokes, since they were fun to say. Not to mention she had the perfect place to practice at.

The ruins doors.

She enjoyed going to the doors leading to the ruins everyday to practice her knock knock jokes. Sure, no one ever answered, because she assumed no one even lived inside of the ruins in the first place, but that didn't bother her. She didn't mind spending some time alone, since she didn't have anyone to really tell her true feelings to. So, alone time wasn't too bad for her. And she'd just tell the jokes to people later if she thought they were good enough, she did have plenty if friends. Her brother, Asgore, Undyne, Alphys, Grillby, everyone at the bar, and even her King, Papyrus.

She had met him through Undyne and Alphys, because her brother was yearning to become a member of the Royal Guard. When she heard of him, she thought he would be a cold, stern, and all business King. But when she met him, she found out he was actually very kind and nice. But she could tell he was sad about something, or someone.

And she had found out in the same day she had met him.

~~~~~~

_"And this is my sister, Toriel!" Asgore said, pushing Toriel forward._

_"Yo," She said, waving her hand._

_She was a bit younger, standing inside of the flower filled royal room. She was standing next to her brother, Alphys, and Undyne, staring at the King._

_Her brother was taller then her, also a goat monster. He was wearing a grey shirt with a dark purple bandanna around his neck, along with matching boots and black shorts. He had thick blond hair on his head, ruffled and sticking out at multiple places._

_To his left was a tall and skinny fish monster wearing a battle armor set, with thick red hair and dark blue scales. Undyne was smiling at Asgore, probably because his sheer levels of excitement._

_Next to her stood the newly hired Royal Scientist, Alphys. She was a hunched over yellow dinosaur monster, with glasses perched against her eyes. She had a lab coat on, her teeth nervously chewing her finger nails._

_"Hello," King Papyrus said, smiling at her, "It's nice to meet you finally."_

_The King did live up to his level of serious looking, however. He was wearing a bright red cloak along with a bright red pair of gloves. The tall skeleton was also wearing a set of golden armor with large shoulder sets, making him look pretty powerful._

_"Wow, so your the one who managed to get six human souls?" Toriel asked, "That's pretty impressive, but I would've never guessed you'd be able to do it."_

_"Why not?" The King asked, tilting his head._

_"Because you don't have any_ _guts_ _to face a human!" Toriel said, making finger guns at Papyrus._

_"Sister why?" Asgore groaned as Alphys and Undyne were shaking their heads at Toriel._

_"Because," Toriel shrugged, "Papyrus has_ _no body_ _else to make puns at."_

_"Why do you do this to me?" Asgore groaned._

_"I... Need to go think..." Papyrus said quietly, turning around, "Please excuse me."_

_And with that, he had walked off._

_"What's wrong with him?" Toriel asked._

_"Your annoying puns, obviously!" Asgore said, "But we have to go to our duties, goodbye friends!"_

_Asgore grabbed Toriel and dragged her out of the throne room, waving goodbye to their two friends._

_It was a few days later before Toriel had talked to her King once more, and they never actually went over what had happened. But everytime she swore he looked at her with a look of something, perhaps sadness, perhaps awkwardness._

~~~~~~

Toriel smiled as her red/purple eyes landed upon the purple doors, her pace slowly as she approached.

"Knock Knock," Toriel said as she knocked on the door.

"..." No response came, obviously.

"Who's there?" Toriel said for herself.

"..." Once again, no response.

"Cow says," Toriel said.

"..." No response.

"Cow says who?" Toriel answered her own joke.

"..." No response.

"No, the cow says moo!" Toriel said, giggling afterwards.

"..." Of course, there was no response, but Toriel could've sworn she heard something on the other side, like muted laughter.

"Knock knock," Toriel said, knocking again.

But this time, a voice answered.

"...Who's there?" The soft male voice asked.


	2. Chapter 2 - Jokes

Toriel blinked, staring at the door. Somebody answered.

Someone lived on the other side of those doors.

_Someone was living in the ruins._

Toriel took a moment to process this before resuming her joke. After all, now she had an audience, so now wasn't the time to be silent.

"Juno," The short female said, shoving her hands into her pockets as she spoke.

"Juno who?" The voice asked.

From what Toriel could tell, it was a male, probably a little bit older then her. He also sounded as if he hadn't spoken to someone in a long time, and his voice sounded lost, hopeless.

He sounded so dead inside.

As if he had lost everything.

"Juno any other bad jokes?" Toriel asked, giggling to herself.

Now, this voice didn't just chuckle, or giggle like she did. He _howled_ with laughter, making Toriel laugh with him as she listened.

He liked her joke!

"Knock knock," Toriel said, a newfound source of self esteem rising within her soul.

"Who's there?" The voice asked, sounding more excited then before.

"A little old lady."

"A little old lady who?"

"All this time, I had no idea you could yodel."

Once again, the mysterious monster behind the door burst with laughter, Toriel joining him. She felt happiness bursting through her, the kind that gave her hope.

Someone really liked her jokes, they didn't get annoyed like some of her friends did.

"Hey, I got one," The voice said, "Knock knock."

"Who's there?" Toriel asked, grinning to herself.

"Robin."

"Robin who?"

"Robin _you_ , hand over the cash."

Now it was Toriel's turn to howl with laughter. Needless to say, this guy was good at these.

She was pretty sure she had just made a new friend.

The short girl pressed her back against the door and slid down, sitting down against the door as she said another joke. For some time it was just like that, Toriel saying a joke before the man behind the door said a joke. It just went back and forth for some time, joke after joke spilling out from their mouths.

"Oh, I need to go now," Toriel said, realizing how late it was.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" The voice asked hopefully.

"Of course, same time," Toriel said, smiling reassuringly at the door even though the monster behind it couldn't see her.

"Then same time it is," The monster said, "Have a nice night."

"You too," Toriel said before walking off.

~~~~~~

Sans woke up feeling pretty bad that morning.

His bones had creaked when he stood up, so he was forced to go more slowly on his human search. Of course, like many of his days inside of confined space of ruins, he didn't find any, which was a relief for him.

_Maybe a human won't fall down._

_Maybe a human won't have to suffer what the other six did._

However, the skeleton knew eventually, a seventh human would fall down, and they would be greeted by Sans, and he knew they'd grow bored inside of the ruins and would want to return home.

The skeleton was at average height for a monster, wearing a long black hooded robe that covered practically his entire body. He had long dark blue sleeves that went further down then his fingers, which he often paired his hands together in front of his chest. The design on the robe was a Delta Rune symbol, the familiar symbol of the monster kingdom. He often looked calm, but that was a defensive mechanism, one which he caught his 'enemies' off guard with before a fight.

Sans didn't look it, but he really did despise himself. Those lives he could have saved if he just tried, but, in the end, he didn't want to hurt them, so he let them pass through the doors. Whenever he looked in a mirror, he didn't see a runaway King, he saw a filthy human killer that couldn't protect anyone.

So, when Sans was done with his daily rounds of the ruins, he went to the door after eating lunch to check it out, making sure it was still locked.

But he heard a voice saying a joke.

So he approached the door and listened to the joke, a soft smile spreading across his face. It had been awhile since he smiled, it had been years since the last human had fallen down, so it had been awhile since he smiled, or even talked to anyone.

But this voice made him smile with their silly joke, and they probably didn't even know he was listening.

So, he answered their next knock knock joke and didn't hold back his laughter when he heard it, his eye sockets tearing up and his ribcage hurting from how much he was laughing.

It has been awhile since he felt happy.

And its been years since he had said a joke.

So, he told her one, and she laughed too, making him feel hopeful.

Not _all_ monsters were bad.

Just some were.

So, after some time of saying puns, Sans the skeleton realized it was his scheduled time for dinner, but before he could say anything, the female on the other side beat him to it.

"Oh, I need to go now," She said, Sans hearing her stand up.

"Will you be here tomorrow?" He asked hopefully, turning his head to face the door, since he was sitting against the door.

"Of course, same time," She said reassuringly.

"Then same time it is," He said happily, "Have a nice night."

"You too," She said before walking off.

Sans pressed his hands against the door along with his skull, listening to the footsteps fade away from the door. Then he smiled slightly, turning around as his soul glowed with a new found happiness.

He had a friend that wasn't going to leave him!

Sans had walked back to his house within the depths of the ruins with his happy grin on his face, rather pleased with the outcome of the day. Once he arrived he fed his pet frogs dinner before he fed himself, going to bed shortly after.

And that night, he didn't sleep with any nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3 - Talking

Asgore noticed his sister seemed rather happy about something.

She had gotten up an hour earlier than usual, and even offered to help make breakfast with him. She then even cleaned up her plate and asked if they could go to work early.

Now she never, ever did that.

"Sister, did something happen?" Asgore asked her, grabbing her shoulder before she left from the front door, "You're being useful and it's scary."

"Oh, I made a new friend!" Toriel giggled, blushing slightly.

"That's really cool, the awesome Asgore is proud!" Asgore said before he looked confused, "Wait, who is this new person?"

"I don't know their name, but they like my puns and even said some themselves!" Toriel said, smiling as she thought about her new friend, "We went at least a full hour of just puns, it was great!"

"You don't know their name?" Asgore asked his smaller sibling, "But at least they like your puns, so I don't have to suffer them."

Suddenly, a chunk of snow fell from the edge of their roof, plopping onto Asgore's shoulder.

"C'mon bro, don't give my puns the cold shoulder!" Toriel said, punching his arm slightly.

"Why do you do this to me?" Asgore groaned, "But I'm glad you made a new friend, that means your being more social! The awesome Asgore is proud of you! Just get to know him better, you should learn his name."

"Thanks Bro-Tato," She said, "Don't worry, we're doing pretty cool with our new friendship. He likes my jokes and I like his, so I guess its a puntastic opportunity to share jokes."

"I'm going to work on my puzzles!" Asgore said, stomping off through the snow.

"He's so funny when he's mad," Toriel giggled before she closed the front door, her left eye glowing a bright orange before she vanished into thin air.

And she appeared right next to the door.

Repeating the day before, she sat down against the door, looking upwards towards the monsters version of the sky. Being stuck in the Underground was horrible, she wasn't able to look at the beautiful sun or the sparkling night sky. No, she didn't have that option, no monsters did.

If only she had one more human soul, then she could finally escape from the clutches of the underground with everyone else.

Footsteps against tile interrupted her thoughts as she smiled, listening to them approach from behind her.

"Hello!" She said, knocking on the door to show that she was there.

"Hiya," Sans said, knocking back in response.

"So, new friend," Toriel said, shoving her hands into her pockets, "Wait, do you consider me a friend?"

"Yes," Sans said with no hesitance, "You're actually my only friend right now."

"I'm your only friend?" The short goat asked in disbelief, "Don't you have any other friends with you?"

"I'm one of the few monsters in here," The robed skeleton admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "So none of them are really my friends. Of course, I become friends with the humans who fall down here, but..."

"Wait, you've met the humans?" She asked, "They fall down in the ruins?"

"Yeah, I saw every one of them. They all came in here, stayed with me for some time, then left just like that. Like you already know, they died because I couldn't keep them in here."

Sans drew his knees against his chest, his eye sockets darkening to a full black as he recalled unpleasant memories, his bone rattling slightly as he trembled.

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear that..." Toriel said.

"Hey," Sans said, turning slightly to the door, "If... If a human comes through these doors, will you give them mercy and protect them? Can you promise that, for me?"

Toriel sat in silence for a moment, thinking over his question. She wasn't one for promises, she always found them a waste of time. No one ever followed them anyway, so what was the point of making them?

But, he sounded so sad... And he had watched all of his close friends die because of the King...

"I promise..." She said quietly.

"So, why don't we talk about more happy stuff?" Sans changed the subject, "Like, I dunno, tell me about yourself. What's your favorite color?"

"I really like purple," Toriel said, "You?"

"I'm a fan of blue, especially dark blue."

"What's your name?"

"I... Um... Don't feel comfortable saying it on the spot," Sans said silently, "Can you just call me 'Guy behind the door'? I hope I don't come off as mean..."

"Oh, I don't blame you," Toriel defended, "I don't want to push you out of your comfort zone, so I'll call you that no prob. I'll keep back my name until your ready, then we can exchange names! How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," He said, smiling to himself.

"Yup," Toriel said.

"So, you wanna make more knock knock jokes?"

"Yeah, let's do that."


	4. Chapter 4 - Story

Toriel decided to confront the King about why he was so uncomfortable around her the next day.

She walked up to him with her usual bored expression, him looking up from watering his flowers. He gave her a quick smile before returning to his flowers.

"Hello there Miss. Toriel," Papyrus said, not looking up at her as he spoke, "Is there a reason why you are here alone? Are you concerned about your brother?"

"It's not about that," Toriel said, "I just feel like there's something I'm doing to make you feel awkward around me, but I want to know why you always _look so sad_ when I'm around."

Papyrus sighed, standing up and setting down the watering can, "I apologize, it's just that... Know what, follow me."

And that's what Toriel did.

She followed King Papyrus out of the throne room, curious to see where he would lead her. They walked for a bit before coming to his house, him not glancing at her the whole time. It was a bit awkward, but at least Toriel was getting some answers.

"Please, sit down and make yourself at home," The taller of the two said, "Can I make you anything? Spaghetti?"

"No thank you, I'm good," Toriel said, sitting down on the couch with her legs crossed, "I just want to know how to make you stop feeling uncomfortable, King Papyrus."

"Please, just call me Papyrus," The skeleton said, sitting down across from her, "And it's not you... It's just that you remind me of someone, someone I haven't seen in years and I miss dearly."

"Do you mean my Dad?" Toriel asked, tilting her head.

"I do miss him, but that's not who I'm talking about," He said, "Are you aware that I had two brothers when the first human fell down?"

"Yeah, but that's all I know," Toriel admitted sheepishly, "All I know is that you had two brothers and something happened to them."

"Well, it happened when the first human fell down here," He started the story, "I'm the middle child, but I was out in charge because the eldest of us decided I was ready for the responsibility. He was Sans, our oldest brother. I'm taller then him though, but not by that much. We had a younger brother, Gaster, he was the one who found the first human."

"I know that part, Gaster brought the human home, but I don't know what happened after that."

"He did, he became best friends with Chara. They were so close, she practically became family. I remember Sans brought them to a frog race and let them use some money to bet on frogs. They were so happy that day..."

Papyrus looked lost in memories, smiling slightly.

"It must be hard for you now," Toriel said, "Since they both are gone now."

"It is hard," He said sadly, "One day, Chara fell ill, and died. Gaster wanted to properly bury her, so he took her soul and went to the surface. He died, his body dusted on those flowers in my throne room."

"Did the humans attack him?" Toriel asked, tilting her head.

"They did," Papyrus sighed, "Just because he was a monster, they attacked. I was so furious when I saw him dust away that I declared war on the humans and threatened everyone of their lives that fell down here."

"Did Sans die to the next human...?" Toriel asked, trying to piece it together.

"No, I'm not even sure he had ever met them," The King said, "He was upset when I declared war, and he told me to take down my threat or he'd leave because he cared about the humans. I said no, but I didn't think he'd actually leave. I haven't seen him since."

"Did you search for him?" The goat monster asked.

"At least seven times," He sighed, "They couldn't find him anywhere, but I don't blame them. He was always good at hide and seek when we were younger, he always won and I thought he was kidnapped before he popped up out of nowhere. I miss him..."

Toriel watched him sadly, recognizing his pain. She had no idea what she would've done if her brother ran away and never came back.

"I miss him..." Papyrus groaned, hurry his head into his hands, "And you remind me so much of him. You both like puns, whenever I hear a pun I only can think of Sans."

"So that explains it," Toriel concluded, "Since I say puns all the time I keep bringing up bad memories. I'm sorry, Papyrus."

"It's not your fault," He grumbled, "I miss Sans, so much. He's been gone for years and I don't even know if he's alive, it's killing me knowing that I'll never know. And we only need one more human soul to exit from the underground, but he's probably so disappointed in me it's driving me crazy."

"I'm sure you'll meet him one day," She said, trying to reassure him, "I doubt he's dead, I think he's just upset, but you guys are family, you'll see each other once again."

"Do you really think so?" Papyrus asked, looking up at her, "He probably hates me."

"After all this time, he has to have forgiven you," Toriel reassured him, "Don't worry about it."

"Thank you, this talk was beneficial to the both of us," Papyrus said, standing up, "We should to back to our duties now."

"'Course Papyrus," Toriel said.


	5. Chapter 5 - Fallen Human

Sans had been pretty happy ever since he had heard the voice behind the door.

He felt more energetic when he woke up, and he even stopped having those horrifying nightmares that constantly reminded him why he had ran away to the ruins. And he stopped throwing away half of his meals, instead, he actually ate the required amount for a skeleton to stay inside of good health. He was happy for once, he had a new friend!

And that morning he saw the 7th human child that had fallen.

They were facing the horrid monster named Flowey, surrounded by 'friendliness' pellets. Sans knew Flowey called them that when he tried to trick Sans, pretending to be his brother. Sure, he had the memories of Gaster, but Sans knew that wasn't his younger sibling.

Gaster had died, and he had accepted that.

This stupid flower tried to play with his emotions, which he discovered and managed to fight back. So, Sans was rather angry when he saw the flower about to kill the fallen child.

"You get away from the kid you awful flower!" Sans yelled, throwing a bone attack at Flowey.

The black flower yelled as the bones hit him, sending him flying to god knows where. The brown haired child looked over at Sans, sighing with relief.

They were wearing a blue sweater with purple stripes on it, along with blue shorts and brown shoes. Their eyes were closed, but they seemed to be able to see just fine.

"Heya Kiddo," Sans said, sticking out his hand, "Nice to meet ya. Sorry about that flower, he's got no soul. Names Sans, how about you?"

"Frisk," The child replied, smiling up at him, "Thank you Sans!"

"C'mon Kiddo, I'll show you around the ruins," Sans said, intertwining his fingers with the humans, "And don't let that flower decide how you think of monsters. We're all not bad, just some of us."

Sans led her to the large room with light shining down from above, leading her to the doors puzzle.

"Monsters are kinda weird, instead of setting up traps we set up puzzles to trap humans instead," Sans said, "This is one of the many puzzles you'll see, kiddo. Don't get _puzzled_ trying to solve them, I'll teach ya how."

Sans stepped on a few buttons before the door clicked open, grabbing Frisk's hand once more.

"They aren't too difficult. For the next puzzle, I marked them for ya, just gotta flip the switches."

Sans led her to the next room, pushing his hands together and letting the baggy sleeves of his robe connect, smiling at Frisk.

"Go ahead, I'm sure you'll figure this out," He said reassuringly.

The runaway Prince watched as the human child flipped the first switch before they progressed over a bridge, flipping the second labeled one.

"Nice kid," Sans said, grasping her hand once more, "I think the next puzzle is too dangerous for you to solve on your own, so just follow me."

When her gaze landed on the old spikes she froze, her face filling with fear. She didn't want to die, not by this.

"Sans," She muttered, gripping onto his dark blue robe, "I'm scared, I don't want to walk through that..."

"Here kid," Sans said, crouching down, "Climb onto my back, I'll give you a piggy back ride."

Frisk nodded before climbing onto his back, his hoisting her up.

She was shivering as he slowly, yet calmly made his way through some of the spikes, her holding back tears as they reached the halfway point. Sans sensed this and quickly came up with a pun to take her mind off of it.

"Hey, are you sure you aren't a skeleton?" He asked her, "Because us skeletons weigh a ton, a _skele-ton_."

Frisk giggled at the pun, distracting her enough so Sans could quickly walk the rest of the way through the deadly trap.

"There we go kiddo," Sans said, "See, no problem, I have you. I'll keep you safe here."

"Thanks Sans," Frisk said, climbing off of his back while he crouched down.

"Now," Sans said, rubbing the top of her head, "Forgive me for this, but it's necessary."

And with that, he rushed off down the hall, disappearing from view.

"Wait, Sans!" Frisk yelled, but Sans had already disappeared down the hall, escaping her sight.

"Oh boy..." She muttered, hugging her arms to her chest as she made her way towards where he had ran off to, keeping am eye out for Sans.

She passed by a large conveniently shaped lamp, stopping when she saw Sans peak out from behind it.

"Kid, don't worry," He said, leaning against it, "I didn't leave you, I have a soul. But there was a reason I had to do this."

"There was?" Frisk asked, looking up at him.

"Sorry kiddo," Sans said, kneeling down and ruffling up her brown hair, "But I have to take care of some things, you'll have to stay here for a bit. But here, I have a phone you can use to contact me in case of emergency."

"That's okay Sans!" She said, taking the phone from him, "I can wait here for a bit."

"Thanks a bunch kid," He said, standing up, "Be back in a few."

And with that, he walked off, leaving Frisk alone.


	6. Chapter 6 - Excitement

Sans couldn't contain how happy he was now that he had another human down there.

He practically bolted to his house, hoping to make it look nice for his new human friend. He had forgotten to tidy up his house, so he had to go do that now. Not to mention he wanted to prepare some food for the human to eat when they arrived.

Sans burst into his house, quickly grabbing a broom and starting to sweep all of his hardwood floors. After he did that, he then proceeded to wipe off all of his counters and tables before moving onto the carpets, vacuuming them in a hurry. Then he tidied up their room from the last human who came, making the bed and fluffing the pillow.

The male then decided to make the human child a hot pocket, but he then realized how he didn't know what flavor they wanted. So, he pulled out his old phone before calling them.

"Hi Sans!" They said happily, sounding a bit out of breath.

"Yo, kiddo," He said, looking at the two boxes of hot pockets on the counter, "How are you? You alright down there?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Frisk said.

"Well, this question is completely random," Sans said, "But what kind of hot pocket would you rather have? Pepperoni or ham-and-cheese?"

"The ham-and-cheese, please," Frisk said.

"That's a _cheesy_ cliché," Sans said, earning a giggle from Frisk, "Well, talk to ya later kiddo, stay safe!"

"Bye Sans!" She said.

He ended the call with a click, opening the requested box and pulling out a hot pocket before setting it inside of the oven. He then set it on the required time before he threw away the empty box, pairing his arms together.

"I guess I can go get her now," He said, smiling to himself happily.

However, when he was about to exit the kitchen, his phone rang, making him pull it out and answer it.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Hi," Frisk said, "I was wondering if I could possibly call you 'Big Brother'?"

Sans blushed, smiling to himself.

"If that makes you happy, kiddo," He said, "And I'm on my way to get you, so hang on a bit longer."

"Okay!" Frisk said.

Sans made his way out of his house and towards where he left his new little friend, only to find out they made it through all of the puzzles themselves and were pretty close to his house.

"Kid, you shouldn't have left, it was dangerous for you to leave!" Sans said, inspecting her, "And your hurt, you scraped your knee pretty bad. Does it hurt?"

"Not too much anymore," Frisk said, looking down at her scraped knee, "But it still stings..."

"And you ripped your sweater too, you should've just waited for me..." Sans said, "Here, time for yet another piggy back ride, I'll get you all fixed up."

Frisk smiled at him before climbing onto his back again, him hoisting her off before he walked into his house, ducking down so she wouldn't hit the doorway.

"Thank you Sans!" Frisk said as he set him down onto the couch, propping her injured leg onto the pillow.

"I have a medical kit inside of my room, stay here," Sans said, hurrying off to his room and returning moments later with a large medical kit.

He carefully applied some cream to keep it from infecting before putting a large band-aid on top, patting Frisk's head when he was done.

"There you go kiddo," He said, closing the clear container, "All better. You should go to sleep now, though. Here, I'll take you to your room."

"Thank you big brother!" Frisk said, his helping her up and carrying her to her new room.

"'Night Kid," Sans said, tucking her in and kissing her lightly on her forehead.

"Goodnight!" Frisk said to him.

Sans smiled at her before closing the door behind him, walking back to his kitchen.

By then the hot pocket was done, so he pulled it out of the oven with his levitation magic and placed it onto a plate. He never touched it once as he drifted it in front of him as he walked back to Frisk's room, opening the door enough to place the hot pocket onto the nightstand next to Frisk's new bed.

"Sleep tight, kiddo," He whispered before closing the door for good this time, walking off to talk to his only other friend.

~~~~~~

After that discussion Toriel had with the King of all monsters, she had left his house and went to the ruin doors, feeling satisfied with the answer he had given her. Just quiet down on the puns near King Papyrus, since it brought up sad memories. So, she felt better knowing that she didn't annoy him or anything like that. And since she had this new pun loving friend, she didn't need to say them near the King, she should just say them to the man behind the door.

"You there?" She asked, knocking on the door.

"Yeah, I've been here for a few minutes," Sans said.

At the same time they both sat down against the door, their legs criss-crossed below them. Sans, for the first time in awhile, pulled down his hood, feeling rather safe when talking to his friend.

"I had a good day today," Sans started.

"So did I," Toriel laughed, "Looks like today was just a good day."

"What happened that made you happy?" Sans asked, resting his bare skull against the door.

"A friend of mine was having some troubles and we finally got it cleared up," Toriel said, "So, that made me happy, since now I know how to help him. I'm going to talk to him about it and make a plan."

"That's good, I hope you can help him with his problem," Sans said.

"But what about you?" Toriel asked him, turning her body slightly so face the door, "How was your day?"

"Don't tell anyone this," Sans said, "But the 7th human fell down here today."

"Oh," Toriel said, feeling conflicted over the situation.

The 7th human. The last soul they needed to break the barrier. That last soul and they could all be free. Papyrus could search for his brother, and Asgore could see the sun for the first time in his life!

But, the man behind the door just told her not to tell anyone. And they've been friends for a bit, but she feels like they have a good connection, she didn't want to break that trust. And there could always be an 8th human who falls down and ends up being a total jerk to everyone. Not to mention, the male had sounded so happy about this, so she couldn't just go behind his back.

There would always be other opportunities to find a human soul, so it was fine.

"Their name is Frisk," Sans continued, dragging Toriel out of her thoughts, "She's a child, and she's really sweet. She even called me 'older brother', which made my day. I'm not going to fail her like I did my younger brother."

"What happened to your younger brother?" Toriel asked, "If that doesn't affect you."

"It was an accident," Sans sighed, "But that was long ago, and I've gotten over his death. So, I dunno, just the kiddo calling me older brother made me feel hopeful again, that I wouldn't screw it up this time."

"That's good," Toriel said, "Tell the human I said hi, and I hope they stay safe."

"I carried the human today, and I learned that humans have a skeleton frame inside of them like most monsters," Sans said, "Since she weighed a ton, a skele-ton!"

Toriel burst out laughing, before saying another pun herself.

And for the rest of the time, they said puns before they had to leave.


	7. Chapter 7 - Bonding

Sans was **determined** to keep the human from leaving the ruins.

He checked on them multiple times throughout the night, learning that they had eaten their hot pocket dinner before going back to sleep. He had woken up before them in the morning, preparing a day of fun to keep them there.

He knew it was kind of bad, tricking the human child into enjoying his house so they wouldn't leave. But he was desperate, he didn't want his brother to escape from the underground through violence. He just wanted to keep someone he cared about alive for once.

So, he planned out a whole day. He was going to make them breakfast, then he was going to play some bored games with them, eat lunch, then have them practice talking to monsters, let them explore a bit more while he talked to his friend behind the door, then tuck them in with a bed time story. He was going to ask his friend for more games, since he knew he couldn't keep them entertained forever with the few board games he had.

"Heya Kiddo," Sans said when she walked into the living room, "How was your sleeping?"

"It was good," Frisk said.

"Y'know, I'm the best sleeper around," Sans said, shutting his frog book he was reading, "I can do it with my eyes closed!"

Frisk giggled before walking up to him, rubbing her eyes tiredly. He then offered to make her breakfast, in which she accepted eagerly. He offered her a hot cat or a hot dog, in which she took a hot dog.

"This isn't what us humans usually eat for breakfast," Frisk told Sans with her mouth full. "It's usually a lunch thing."

"Eh, in the ruins, we can't be picky," Sans shrugged, "I could ask a friend on mine on the outside to bring you some cereal, if you'd like."

"There's more then the ruins?" Frisk asked him, "Can I ever go there?"

Sans froze before rapidly shaking his head, setting down his hot dog.

"Look, Kiddo," He explained, "As much as I want you to feel free and explore the underground, it's too dangerous for a human child like you. If you thought fighting the monsters in the ruins was hard, you won't survive out there. You'll be killed instantly, kiddo."

"What about you?" Frisk asked Sans, "Why are you here? Don't you want to live with your friend?"

"Because I want to protect humans, like you," Sans sighed sadly, "There were six humans before you, all of them I couldn't save. They all died to that horrible monster of a King, King Papyrus."

Sans spat out his brothers name, anger fuming inside of his soul. Frisk could see this, watching his eyes glow blue for a second before dimming to normal.

"You don't like him?" Frisk asked.

"I have a bone to pick with him," Sans said the pun naturally, "But to be serious, he's a cruel man who's set on killing every human who falls into the underground. He has a trained Royal Guard squad ready to kill any human at an instant. The ruins is the only place you'll be safe from him."

"Why are the ruins safe?" Frisk asked, "There's monsters here too."

"Yes, but they don't follow King Papyrus," Sans said, "Everyone here doesn't follow his rules, they just attacked you because they were scared of you. If any of them followed King Papyrus, I would've been ratted out years ago and brought to the castle. The King doesn't even know anyone is inside of the ruins, neither does most other monsters but a few."

"Are you a criminal?" Frisk asked, "Is that why you're on the run?"

"Oh, no kid, not that," Sans said, "Don't tell anyone this, but he's actually my little bro. I ran away because of the whole 'human killing' thing he enforced. I didn't like it, and he wouldn't listen to me, so I decided I would protect the fallen humans myself. So far, it hasn't gone so good..."

"Oh," Frisk said, looking down at her food, "I'll keep it a secret, but who would I tell?"

"I dunno, it's just in case," Sans said, "If any monster found out the runaway Prince was here, King Papyrus would drag me back to the castle kicking and screaming. And then he'd kill you and attack all of the humans with the power of a god."

"That wouldn't be good," The human said.

"No, so, kiddo, stay here and stay safe, please," The skeleton said, standing up, "How about we go play some board games and eat some lunch afterwards?"

"Sure," Frisk said, finishing her breakfast.

~~~~~~

"Yo Papyrus," Toriel said, walking into the throne room.

"Toriel, what brings you here today?" Papyrus asked her, perking up in his throne room.

"I wanna help you find your bro," Toriel offered.

"Why?" Papyrus asked.

"Well, it's pretty simple, actually," She said, "You said you looked like seven times, but that was some time ago. He might've lowered his defenses, or we might get lucky and find his hide out. Who knows, I want to help you find him, I couldn't imagine what it would feel like separated from Asgore, so I think I should help."

Papyrus thought it over for a moment before saying, "Thank you, that would be great. I already looked over all of the underground, and you should still work at your job, so I think you should only look for an hour, maybe two. But have Undyne plan it out, I'm sure she'd enjoy that."

"She would," Toriel agreed, "Thanks for letting me do this, Papyrus. I really hope we find him."

"Thank you, too," Papyrus said, "This gives me hope for the future."

"See ya," Toriel said, bowing slightly before walking off.

~~~~~~

Undyne had gathered all of the Royal Guard and separated them into small teams of four. She even brought in Alphys and Asgore.

"Okay guys, here are the places you'll be searching!" Undyne said, spreading out a map with circles on it of all the underground, "Even with our separate groups it'll be difficult to inspect all of the underground in one day. So, we're going to start on the edges of it and close in, so perhaps we could trap him. And, unless absolutely necessary, do NOT attack him. He is royalty and no harm should come to the Prince. Is that clear!"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone in the room said.

"Alright," Undyne said, resting spear on her shoulder, "Now, I know it's been awhile since we've looked for Prince Sans, but remember that he is a master at hiding and you probably won't spot him on your first look. That's why we have teams, so we can check with the eye sight of at least four people. Also, he is powerful, and might attack. Just to use binding magic to tie him up if that's so, don't attack back. Is that also clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" They all repeated.

"Good!" Undyne said, "Now let's go return our Prince home!"

Everyone cheered before running off with their groups, leaving behind Undyne, Asgore, Alphys, and Toriel.

"This was a great idea, sister!" Asgore said, patting Toriel's shoulder, "The awesome Asgore is proud of you!"

"Y-Yeah, this was a-a good idea," Alphys said, adjusting her glasses, "Papyrus' spirit s-seems pretty down l-lately and this s-should h-help!"

"Yeah, he seemed pretty depressed," Toriel said, shrugging, "I just decided to do it to help him."

"Nice job punk!" Undyne yelled, hitting her shoulder playfully, "We got Snowdin, since you guys know your way 'round it. Let's go!"

They quickly made their way to Snowdin using the riverman, listening to him say "Tra-la-la" a few times before they arrived. They inspected him before determining he wasn't a skeleton but a normal monster before moving onto their respective part of Snowdin.

"No secrets here!" Asgore yelled, dropping the snow puff back onto the ground.

"Nothing here either," Undyne said, checking behind a tree.

"Hey, what about your new friend?" Asgore asked his sister, "Does he have any leads on where the Prince could be?"

"Probably not," Toriel said, "He knows his place inside out, he said it's pretty small and that he's the only monster there."

"Oh, okay," Alphys sighed before pointing in a direction, "We c-can go look over t-there n-next."


	8. Chapter 8 - Agreements

"Yeah, I really like amphibians," Sans said, pulling at his sleeves, "I don't know why, but they've just grown on me. I have a few as pets, I sometimes just play with them when I'm bored."

"That's cool," Toriel said, "What I do when I'm bored is that I bake pies, I can let you try one tomorrow if you wouldn't mind."

"Actually, that'd be great," Sans said, "Frisk wanted to try some more foods and this would be helpful. And if you have any extra board games we both could play as well?"

"Why don't you watch TV with her instead?" Toriel asked him, "Mettaton is pretty popular and I think she'd like him. He's not even a monster, he's a robot."

"I can't bring TV into here," Sans said, "Sorry girl-behind-the-door, but if I connected it to here, people will know I'm here and start to ask questions. I don't want anyone to know I'm here."

"Because if they found out, they'd find the human," Toriel said.

"Yeah," Sans said, "So I have to entertain her with games and food so she doesn't leave. I trust you to keep her safe, but we both know the King is persistent."

"He is, with the humans at least," Toriel said, "But I gotta go now, it's time for me to make my bro dessert. Talk to you tomorrow, guy-behind-the-door."

"Have a nice night," Sans said as they both stood up.

~~~~~~

"So, you ready for today?" Sans asked Frisk, ruffling her hair, "I have a friend of mine from the outside is going to bring us some games, and even a homemade pie, so today should be fun."

"It sounds fun!" Frisk said, smiling at Sans, "But I have to ask, is there any way I could go back to the surface?"

Sans froze, his hand halfway out of the refrigerator before he sighed, setting down the container of milk.

"Frisk, I know you want to go home, but you can't," Sans said, "You'd never survive out there, and you have to have 7 human souls to break the barrier, not to mention humans can't absorb human souls. You're stuck down here unless another human falls down here and dies, but I don't think that will happen. Sorry, Frisk."

"Oh, that's fine..." Frisk sighed, "I didn't mean to offend you, it's just that it feels a bit cramped in here, since the ruins are actually pretty small."

"I know, I know," The monster said, hugging her, "I wouldn't keep you in here without a good reason, but this is the only way to survive. Not to mention I don't want to let my brother escape through violence, it's never the answer."

"Thank you, for everything," Frisk said into his robe, "On the surface, the orphanage never treated me like this. I was just another kid without parents they had to raise to keep their jobs."

"I'm sorry," Sans said, letting her out of the hug, "Why don't we go play with my frogs, you can even name one of them if you'd like?"

"Really?" Frisk perked up, "That's really cool, let's go!"

~~~~~~

"Where are you going with all of that?" Asgore asked Toriel.

Toriel turned around, smiling at her older brother before replying, "Oh, my new friend behind the door, I wanted to play some games with him and eat some pie."

"Can the awesome Asgore join you?" He asked, his eyes sparkling with hope.

"Um, sorry Bro, but I don't think so," She admitted, "He's actually really shy, and your awesomeness would overwhelm him."

"Yes, the greatness of Asgore would be too much," Asgore muttered, "Well, tell him I said hello and I hope I can meet him one day!"

"'Course Asgore," Toriel said, "I'll be home in an hour."

"Goodbye sister!" Asgore said as she walked away, waving to her.

When she wasn't in sight by anyone she teleported near the door, walking up the rest of the way. 

"You're late by six minutes," Sans chuckled from behind the door as Toriel announced that it was her, "Pass the tardy sauce."

"Actually, I have apple pie, and some bored games, also a joke book for you," Toriel said, "Hope that suffices."

"That'll do," Sans said, "Thanks for the joke book."

"Do you want me to leave them by the door and leave?" Toriel asked, looking for a good place to set down the pie.

Sans thought for a moment before standing up from the door, facing with with as much will as he could muster up.

"I... I think it's time I talk to a monster face to face for once," He said confidently, feeling slightly nervous.

"Are you sure?" Toriel asked.

"...Yes, yes I am!" He said, "I trust you, so I think it's time we became close friends and opened the door."

"Oh, if you really want to," Toriel said, standing up a little straighter.

"Here I go," Sans announced, his fingers wrapping around the doorknob as he unlocked it.

Toriel thought she was ready for what she was going to see, but she never expected what she saw.

The long lost Prince smiling softly at her as the door creaked open, holding out his hand for her.

"My names Sans. It's nice to meet you face to face."


	9. Chapter 9 - The Prince

Toriel gulped, her pink eyes widening at the sight in front of her.

The Prince that she had heard so much about, Prince Sans, was right there!

Her new best friend was a runaway Prince! A part of royalty!

"I'm Toriel," Toriel said, quickly calming herself down on the outside before shaking his hand.

"You're pretty short and cute," Sans observed, making Toriel blush.

"Thanks," She muttered, diverting her gaze to the snow, "Um, here's your pie and stuff."

"Thank you," Sans said, taking the items from her outstretched hands, "It's been years since I've actually seen the outside of the ruins, the air is so crisp out here."

"Yeah, you get used to it after awhile," Toriel said, "We can hang out by the doors for a bit, if you want."

"I have to go give Frisk dinner," Sans said, "But we can hang out tomorrow, I would prefer not to out here, I don't want anyone knowing I live here."

"Of course," Toriel said, smiling at him, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sans disappeared behind the doors as quickly as he appeared, giving her a quick goodbye before rushing off to help the human child. Toriel stood where she was standing for a bit longer before turning around, deciding to walk the long way home to her house.

She had no idea what to do.

She considered both Papyrus and Sans friends of hers, and she wanted to make both of them happy.

So, this wasn't good.

Sans obviously didn't want to see Papyrus, that was clear by his eye sockets constantly looking around for any witnesses in the short time he was outside.

But, at the same time, there was Papyrus. He so desperately wanted to see his brother again, and she knew where he was. Papyrus had seemed so down and hopeless lately, and her suggesting going searching for his brother again had filled him with hope. Of course, she knew it would quickly die down with the little success she had. So, Papyrus would be miserable again. Not to mention all of the monsters in the underground would feel more secure knowing another member of royalty is alive and well with his family once more. She could understand the kind of pain Papyrus was inside of with that confusion over his lost brother, so she could relate.

But, at the same time, this affected the human. If she revealed where Prince Sans was, what would happen next? They'd most likely be found and killed, almost immediately. Sure, the monsters could escape from the underground, but she made a promise not to give away where the human is and to protect them. Not to mention Sans seemed to really grown attached to them.

But what would she do?

These two secrets were secrets that could save the underground from despair! The final human had fallen down, and they could escape! Not to mention the long lost Prince could finally be found!

They could escape!

But... What about those promises she made?

She didn't want to go against Sans.

She didn't want to go against Frisk.

She didn't want to go against Papyrus.

She didn't want to lie.

She didn't want to tell the truth.

She had no idea what she was going to do.

She basically had two options. Don't tell anyone, and lie to everyone, or tell someone, and make Sans hate her and kill an innocent child.

~~~~~~

After a long walk of thinking, Toriel came up with an idea.

She was going to ask Asgore what she should do.

Of course, she wouldn't say it directly to him, that would be an awkward conversation, not to mention that Asgore would tell everyone he knew that his sister was best friends with the Prince.

No, she was going to do it in secret.

She was going to say she overheard a conversation at Grillby's about someone having difficulties with two friends, and she was going to ask him what his opinion on it was. If he said tell the King, she'd tell the King. If he said not to, she'd keep it a secret.

"Hey, bro," Toriel said as she opened the front door.

"Hello Sister!" Asgore said, waving to her from his chess game on the table, "You look troubled. Is there something wrong?"

"Actually, there is," Toriel admitted, plopping down across from him, "I'm so stressed out about it that it's giving me a headache. Can I talk about it with you?"

"I'll make us some tea!" Asgore declared, running to the cabinets and frantically pulling out the required items to make tea.

Toriel couldn't blame him for being happy that she was telling him about her problems for once. She often just bottled it up inside and calmed herself down by making pies, so her reaching out to her Brother was a first in a long time.

Asgore was practically flying around inside of the kitchen as he made tea, quickly pouring two cups of steaming tea before he set them down at the table, rather excited to start talking.

"So, I have these two friends who are siblings," Toriel started, "The younger one said something really mean to the older one that hurt his feelings so much, that he ran off. Now, the younger one feels really sad, and wants the Older one home, so does everyone of his friends. So, if the older sibling comes back home, everyone in the town would be happy."

"Then the older sibling should come home!" Asgore said.

"Wait, there's more," Toriel said, "I pinkie promised to help bring their sibling home, and I became good friends with him. It turns out, he became friends with the families enemy, and they'll end up hurting that enemy really bad if the older sibling comes home. Not to mention I promised him I'd keep him a secret and keep his friend safe. However, I also promised his family and friends I'd find him, but he'll be really mad if I rat him out. So, what do I do?"

Asgore thought for a moment before coming to a conclusion, sipping a small gulp of his tea before he started.

"If you ask me, there is a way around this," Asgore said, "You can invite the enemy over here before telling his family where he is, because he has to forgive his brother eventually. You know how sad King Papyrus is, I don't think anyone else should suffer that. You should tell his brother where he is."

Toriel stared at him for a bit before sighing, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

"Asgore, which do you think is more important?" The short female asked him, tilting her head back down to it's normal level, "Capturing a human or returning Prince Sans home?"

Asgore cocked his head to the side, not making the connection that the two are related.

"Um, well," The older brother muttered, "I'd say bringing the Prince home. Even though you get lazy at certain times, I would be really upset if you disappeared for years and years."

"Me too," Toriel said, "Me too."

"Was that all you were concerned about?" Asgore asked her.

"Asgore, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone!" Toriel said, "I'll tell the King myself, but I want you to know the full story."

"Cross my heart, hope to die," Asgore recited the old promise, drawing an 'X' over where his heart was located, "I won't tell anyone."

And with all of her strength summed up within her soul, she said the truth to her brother.

"I found Prince Sans."


	10. Chapter 10 - Truth

Toriel told Asgore everything.

About how she had met Sans, how they had drawn close, how he asked her to make a promise to help protect the human, and how she had just learned his true identity minutes ago.

Asgore soaked up all of the information as he sat there, quickly scanning over it inside of his head.

"So," He finally said, "You were friends with the Prince this whole time and just found out... And he's taking care of a human."

"Yes," Toriel said, "That's why I made up that story to figure out what to do, since Prince Sans really cares about the human. Asgore, I know how much you want to get into the Royal Guard, but don't turn in the human."

"But all of the monsters could be free if we did," Asgore said quietly, "We could turn them both in... Become a member of the Royal Guard... Be free..."

"There's always going to be another human falling down," Toriel said, resting a hand on Asgore's arm, "But I already went back on one of my promises by telling you, so please? For me?"

Asgore nodded before hugging her.

"I know it's hard, but it's for the best," Asgore said, "Let's go tell the King the great news."

~~~~~~

"You found him?" Papyrus asked, happiness flooding his voice.

"Yes," Toriel said, "Asgore found out where he's hiding. He decided to look a bit longer than what Undyne said and found his hiding spot. If it wasn't for Asgore, we wouldn't have found him."

"And Toriel managed to convince him we're friends and not threats," Asgore added, "So he trusts her, we can lure him somewhere where he can't run away with the Royal Guard and bring him here."

Papyrus engulfed them into a hug, repeating, "Thank you!" Over and over again.

Toriel didn't feel very happy as Papyrus did. She was going against her promise and telling his brother she had found him.

She felt sick all of the sudden.

"You guys have no idea how happy this makes me," Papyrus said, "I just want to see my brother again, I was so desperate. You guys saying you'd search again gave me hope, b-but I never thought you'd find him. Where is he?"

"Um..." Toriel said, "He's near my post, so what I was thinking was that we could lead him to it and lock him off there by surrounding him. It's the only way to make sure he doesn't run off."

"I'll be there, then," Papyrus said firmly.

"Actually," Asgore said, "He might recognize your soul, and he'd probably bolt before we have a chance to get him. So, we were thinking of having some Royal Guards hiding until we give the signal."

"That is true," Papyrus said, "Sans can tell when family is nearby, he's always been great at that. I'll stay here, but please don't hurt him. I've already done enough to hurt him."

"Of course," Toriel said quietly.

She felt like a filthy liar.

~~~~~~

Everyone in the Royal Guard was pretty excited about how Asgore had 'found' Sans, even though it was Toriel who actually discovered his location. They all quickly decided where they were going to hide near Toriel's station, where she was going to lead Sans. They had hiding places surrounding it so he couldn't escape, it was rather he fought and they were forced to use binding magic on him, or he surrendered and they bonded him with magic anyway, in case he had any ideas. Of course, if they couldn't land a binding magic on him, they also had a sleeping attack that could hit his soul and make him sleep for an hour. It took a lot of magic, so they were only going to do it if there was no other options.

So, they put their plan into action the next morning.

They royal guard members, including Undyne, hid within the hiding places around her post. Toriel had strict instructions, lead Sans to the post and distract him until he arrived, then they would all jump out and try to convince him to surrender.

And the whole walk to the doors, Toriel didn't feel happy. She felt bad, knowing that she was going to stab him in the back.

But she was already too far, no turning back now.

Not to mention how happy Papyrus looked at the news. He looked like he was going to cry tears of pure happiness. That made Toriel feel a little more confident.

She was going to reunite two brothers, whether one of then liked it or not.

She gulped as he clenched her fists, knocking on the door.

"Knock knock," She said.

"Who's there?" Sans voice came from the other side of the door,

"Dishes,"

"Dishes who?"

"Dishes a bad joke."

Sans laughed as he opened the door, peaking his skull outside and smiling sweetly at Toriel, making her feel only more bad for what she was about to do.

"Ey'a there Toriel," Sans said, "Want to come inside, I can show you around and have you meet with the human."

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to go hang out with me at my post," Toriel said, pointing over her shoulder.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Sans said, "What if someone sees me?"

"No one ever comes by my post, it's in a secluded area," Toriel said, "It's surrounded by trees, and you can use your hood to cover your face. We can hang out for a bit before we come back here, I have to stay there so I don't get fired. I wouldn't mind some company."

"If you say no one will be there," Sans said, closing the ruins doors behind him.

Toriel watched with shame as he pulled his hood over his head even further, casting a shadow over his skull, making it almost impossible for anyone to see if he was a skeleton or not. He trusted her completely, he had no idea she had sold him out.

What kind of monster was she?

She walked with him towards her post, half laughing at his puns and making a few lazy ones of her own. When he asked her what was wrong, she blamed it on a headache, one from getting not much sleep last night.

"I love sleep," Sans said, smiling down at her, "Sometimes I even fall asleep standing up or while doing things."

"Huh," Toriel said, keeping her eyesight on her feet as she walked.

"I've fallen asleep in multiple weird places. Once, I was roaming through the fridge while looking for something to eat, and I fell asleep against the open fridge. My little bro had to wake me up."

"Ha, wow..." Toriel muttered, dread shooting throughout her body as she spotted her post.

It was definitely too last to go back now.

"Is that your post?" Sans asked her.

"Yeah, it is," Toriel said, leading him towards it, "I have some joke books in a little department behind it, come look."

"That-"

Sans was interrupted by a loud, "Now!" Which Toriel had yelled herself. He turned to her, wide eyed, but it was already too late. All of the hidden guards had jumped out, surrounding him within a large circle. He had bones summoned in his hands in defense, and he was backing away from Toriel as he glanced around at the ambush.

"Prince Sans," Undyne said, pointing a green spear at him, "You should surrender, or we'll take you back to the King by force."

Sans growled before looking at Toriel, her sad face giving him all of the information he needed.

She lead him into a trap,

It was all _her_ fault.

"I... I trusted you, Toriel," Sans said, his voice wavering as his eye sockets watered.

"I really did trust you."


	11. Chapter 11 - Trapped

Sans had woken up with a start.

He was inside of his old room, which was tidied up from when he last remembered. His dark blue blanket was laid carefully over his body, large fluffy pillows laying underneath his skull. He remembered this room from before he had ran away, he knew that there was a fireplace across from his bed with bookshelves on either side, along with a large black couch in front of it. He also knew the Windows were covered by black curtains, and how the walls were a dark blue as well.

Sans head felt fuzzy, and his bones felt like they haven't been moved in a million years. His throat also felt dry, even though he didn't really have a throat. He just wanted to lay there for a bit longer to process everything, since he was having a difficult time remembering how exactly he got there.

Then it hit him.

He became friends with the women behind the door.

The human fell down.

They found out each others identities.

She was Toriel.

 _Toriel_ betrayed him.

He tried to fight off the Royal Guard.

They knocked him out.

He woke up in his old room.

The human is alone in the ruins!

He failed them.

Because of Toriel.

Sans sat up, chains clattering as he did so. So he looked down to see a magic resistant chain wrapped around his right leg, it connected to the bed, the chain long enough to let him walk to all of the corners of the room. That meant he couldn't use his magic at all.

Just great, now he's a prisoner in his old home.

The runaway Prince had tried to pull the chain off of his leg, but it obviously didn't work. Of course, there was the option of breaking his leg to get it off, but he wouldn't do that. Sure, he wanted to escape, but broken bones were not good for skeletons, since that was all they had.

So, he simply laid back down, his robe fluttering with the sudden movement. He wasn't sure what else to do. He knew this castle like the back of his hand, even though it's been years since he was inside of it. What was the point of getting up, it wasn't like he could do anything but read, really. With the stupid chain on his ankle he was stuck there until someone took it off. So all Sans could really do was lay there on the bed, the blankets underneath him, as he dreaded what would happen to Frisk.

Since she was exploring the ruins, she'd probably come back to an empty house soon and question where Sans was. She'd go looking for him, but find no traces, except for an unlocked ruins door. Since he had told her it should always be locked, she'd figure out he's been taking by the King or at least left for a bit. There was enough food in the ruins to last her a couple of years, but she probably was worried for him, where he was, if he dusted or not. It was inevitable, she was going to leave the ruins eventually, sooner or later.

Sans could only hope it was later, he wouldn't just sit around as his brother tried to kill off his new little sister. He swore to himself he'd find a way out and he'd save her, he had a few other hiding places around the underground he could hide her in. He couldn't go back to the ruins, since Toriel knows where he was.

After some time, the door creaked open, but Sans didn't bother to look. Unless they let him out, he had no businesses talking to them.

"Sans..." Papyrus said.

~~~~~~

Papyrus was so happy when Undyne had called and said she was bringing in Sans.

They did it! The two siblings had brought back his brother to him!

You had no idea how happy he was.

He didn't care about anything else.

When Undyne had carried in Sans, the young King had practically scooped him into his arms and held him close, laughing with pure joy. It took him a moment to realize, however, that Sans wasn't even conscious.

"He kept resisting and attacking us," Undyne said, "He's a good fighter."

"Of course he is, he's my older brother," Papyrus said, smiling down at the unconscious skeleton, "But he's finally home!"

"Of course, Papyrus," Undyne said, grinning at him, "Without Asgore and Toriel, though, we probably wouldn't have found him."

"I'll put him inside of his room," Papyrus said, adjusting his brother inside of his arms, "Then I'll thank them."

"Oh, I snagged this on the way over, you're going to need it."

The head of the Royal Guard held out the long, magic restricting chain, the King staring sadly at it.

"I... I guess that is unavoidable," He sighed, grasping the chain from her before turning around, "Thank you so much, you have no idea how happy this makes me."

And with that being said, he had walked off.

Papyrus had tucked him into his bed before connecting the chain to his leg then the bed post, ensuring it was secure. He didn't want to do this, but Sans running off had made him do this. He didn't want to have Sans run off again.

He then went off to Toriel and Asgore were located, which was their house. Since it took some time to go there and to come back, he was sure Sans would be up by then, so this was good timing.

"King Papyrus!" Asgore said as he answered the door.

"Yes, hello," Papyrus said, "I just came by to thank you for everything you had done. Thanks to you, the lost Prince has returned home."

"Of course," Asgore said, feeling a bit bad he was claiming credit for his sister.

"Is Toriel here?" He asked, looking around their living room to spot the goat monsters sister.

"She went on a walk," He explained, "Getting some fresh air."

"Oh well," Papyrus sighed, "Tell her I said thank you."

"Of course King Papyrus!" Asgore said, smiling up at him.

Papyrus made his way back to his castle, feeling rather excited. Any minute, his brother was going to wake up, and he could talk to him after so much time had passed!

And Sans was awake on the bed when he walked in.

"Sans..." He said, walking over.

Sans looked more unhappy when he was awake. His eye sockets seemed dull, and his usually smiling teeth were pulled into a scowl. He looked over at Papyrus with an annoyed expression before he turned onto his side, facing the other direction of him.

"Sans, will you please face me?" Papyrus asked, standing at the edge of the bed.

Sans ignored him, his back remaining turned to his younger brother. Papyrus figured as much and sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I know you're probably mad at me for everything, and I understand, but we're family, Sans! We can't ignore everything. After what had happened with Gaster, and with you leaving, I can't risk losing any of my family members anymore. So, please, at least talk to me."

But nobody answered.

Papyrus sighed before rubbing Sans shoulder, not wanting to push him too far. And after that, he stood up, and walked out of the room with a sad sigh.


	12. Chapter 12 - Alone

Frisk knew something was off when she had walked into the empty house.

Sans was nowhere to be found.

Something was wrong.

She checked everywhere when she had got no response from Sans. She checked the kitchen, where no food was being made, she checked his room, where he wasn't sleeping inside of. She then noticed the slight footsteps leading to the ruin doors.

And when she checked them, they were unlocked, and there was a pile of mostly melted snow near the bottom.

He had went out a while ago, and hadn't come back.

So, Frisk waited until it was late at night for his return realizing that he probably wasn't going to return. Maybe he would return inside of the morning.

But, on her way back to her new Home, she overheard some conversations.

"Ribit, Ribit! (Did you hear? The Prince has been returned home, I guess he _won't be coming back here_.)" Froggit said to a spider nearby.

"Yes, I heard he was knocked out screaming. The King will probably have to keep him _inside of the castle_ by force!" A spider said softly back.

"Ribbit! Ribbit! (Poor Prince Sans, he just wanted to care about humans, and now _he's a prisoner_ in his old house!)" The Froggit said.

"What?" Frisk whispered, staring at the two monsters.

"I guess we won't have any caretaker of the ruins anymore," The spider said, walking towards the spider web before waving goodbye, ending the conversation there.

"But big bro..." Frisk said.

However, she was filled with **determination** to retrieve her first ever friend in the underground.

And the young human child left the ruins.

~~~~~~

Toriel walked through the snow in a hurry, her head down in shame as tears cascaded down her fur.

She betrayed him.

She felt like the a scum of the earth.

Well, of the underground, but still.

That look on his face had sent waves or regret flooding over her soul. And she didn't blame him, after all she just basically threw him under the bus forever. Even if he did escape, where would he go? There wasn't many hiding options left in the underground, all of the Monsters had heard the news and learned what he had looked like, and she knew where his previous hiding spot was. He was practically trapped at that point, and if the King had found the human, they'd leave the underground, too.

She didn't think this all the way through.

She just made his world crash around him.

Everything he had built was being torn down by the person he had entrusted with his identity. She threw him back into his past that he wasn't ready to face yet with no escape.

Oh god, what has she done?

Suddenly, more footsteps dragged her out of her inner hatred discussion, looking up.

A human was leaving the ruins.

It was a young girl, with a striped shirt and shorts. She was glancing around, slowly closing the door behind her.

This was Frisk, the final human.

"Sans?" She called out, looking around, "Sans, are you-"

They both froze as they made eye contact.

It was an unusual sight for both of them. It was unusual for Toriel, seeing a human looking at her with it's eyes closed. And it was unusual for Frisk, looking at a crying goat female that was the same height as her.

"Excuse me," Frisk asked, "Can you help me find the castle, where Sans is?"

Toriel stared at the child for a bit before coming to a decision, nodding firmly to both herself and the small human child.

She would keep this promise, she would protect Frisk.


	13. Chapter 13 - Backstory

"I know where he is," Toriel sniffed, rubbing her tears from her puffy red eyes, "That's why I was crying, actually, because he's been taken by the King."

"I know," Frisk said, "But, do you know how I can see him? How I can get to the castle?"

"Here, take my hand," Toriel said, "I know a shortcut. We can go talk this over at Grillby's. By the way, names Toriel."

Frisk nodded and grasped her hand, squeezing her fingers. Toriel closed her eyes and channeled her magic throughout her body, focusing on the desired location. And in a flash, she and Frisk were standing in front of the warmly lit bar.

"Here, stick with me, they probably won't even think that you're a human, or they won't even care," Toriel explained, "And Grillb's is pretty chill, he won't care that much. Let's go."

When Toriel had walked in with Frisk following her, she was greeted by the multiple monsters saying different kinds of hellos to her. She said the same greetings back to the multiple kinds of monsters before sitting at the bar, patting the stool next to her.

"C'mon child, I won't smack any pies in your face, yet," Toriel said, winking at her.

"I just want to know where the castle is so I can find him," Frisk said, sitting down next to her gingerly, "I'm worried about him, he didn't come home and now he may be in trouble."

"What do you want, Grillby makes awesome cheeseburgers and fries. Do you want fries or a cheeseburger?" Toriel asked, ignoring the human's statement.

"Cheeseburger, but-"

"Hey, Grillby, can we get two cheeseburgers over here?" Toriel called to the bartender, once again ignoring Frisk.

"Ok," Grillby said, walking into the back to make the food.

"But Toriel-"

"Look, Frisk," Toriel said suddenly, looking over with a sigh.

Frisk widened her eyes. She never told the short monster her name, so it caught the brown haired child rather off guard when that name slipped from her mouth.

"Let me tell you about a story of a monster who royally screwed up," She said.

Grillby walked in with their meals, sliding them onto the counter as Toriel and Frisk thanked him. The then left to continue wiping off the glasses underneath the counter, leaving them to their discussion once more.

"So, I like puns, a lot, I have _fur_ awhile now," Toriel cracked out a pun, not even smiling at it herself, "Like knock knock doors, I love those. So, I work out in the forest alone, watching for humans to fall. I get bored and lonely, so I figured out, why not try some knock knock doors on the ruin doors?"

Frisk nodded, eager for her to finish the story so she could find her new older brother.

"At the door, I was doing it for days, cracking pun after pun after pun. One day, there was an answer. Some guy, who sounded a little bit older than me, he said, 'Who's there's for my knock knock. I continued the joke, and he laughed. Not just a chuckle or something, he full on went werewolf on me, _**howling**_ with laughter. To be honest, I was concerned that he was going to run out of breath and pass out, but he was fine."

Toriel leaned back in her stool before she continued her story, "After that, I said some more, then he stopped me, saying he wanted to say one. I went with it, and the joke was hilarious! Needless to say, I was thinking at the time, ' _Man, this guy is good_ '. After some more puns, I had to leave, and he had to too. We agreed to come the next day."

"Then, one day, he didn't seem as laugh-y as usual. I asked him what was wrong, and he asked me something. To make a promise, to protect any humans that had fallen down. I agreed, and he explained to me why. A human named Frisk, you had fallen down, and he wanted me to take care of you if you ever decided to leave. Then I had to leave because my brother, Asgore, wanted me home for his bedtime tea."

Frisk smiled to herself, feeling happy that Sans was so **determined** to protect her.

"But, around that same time," Toriel said lazily, bringing Frisk out of her thoughts, "I had met the King, King Papyrus. He seemed a bit off, so I confronted him after a couple of days. He told me about his past, this is a story in a story, child, so get ready."

"Okay," Frisk said, a tad bit upset that it was taking so much time to finish the story.

"Well," The goat monster recalled the event, "Basically, there were three Prince skeletons born to the throne. Sans, the oldest, Papyrus, the middle, and Gaster, the youngest. Even though Sans was the oldest, he didn't want the throne, so Papyrus got it. After we were sealed underground, Papyrus gained full control after their parents died. After a few years, the first human fell. That was Chara. She became close friends with the three and practically became a younger sister. She died from sickness, and Gaster took her to the surface."

"He died there."

Toriel took a break, chewing off a small piece of her burger before proceeding with the story.

"I don't agree with it, but I know where Papyrus was coming from. He declared war on humans, that's why Sans ran away and kept you safe. He didn't agree with it, I probably would've done the same in the same circumstances. He tried to protect the other humans before you, and they all died."

"So how does this relate to my situation? I didn't need to know why Sans is at the castle, I just need to know where it is!" Frisk interrupted.

"Just keep listening," Toriel said sadly, resting her chin on her fist, "Anyway, I wanted to help Papyrus find his brother, who had ran off all those years ago. Then, right after the search, Sans revealed his true identity to me."

"You..." Frisk trailed off, "You didn't..."

"I led him to my station where there was a trap," Toriel said, "I failed him, I turned him in. He's there because of me, Frisk, and I'm not going to break my other promise against him. If you want to go find him-"

"I do!" Frisk perked up.

"I know where to go, but I'm helping you."


	14. Chapter 14 - Facing The King

"I know another shortcut to the King's place," Toriel said, winking at Frisk, "But I don't know where Sans is, and I don't even know the layout of the castle. Also, there's going to be guards on the lookout for humans, there won't be many, but there'll still be some, and Papyrus will keep his brother there with everything he has. I think we should go back to my house and figure out a plan, so we don't get captured immediately."

Frisk thought for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip as she pondered a solution. She wasn't sure what to do. She just wanted her older brother back and happy.

"Let's go now," She said.

"There's no time limit for this," Toriel said, "We can just go to my house and talk this over some pie, figure out a good game plan that won't get you killed."

"No, we're going now," Frisk said, more firmly this time, "You already did enough to him, I'm getting him out now."

"But-"

" _Now_!" Frisk said, "If you want to make it up to him, you'll take me there right now using one of your shortcuts!"

"If that's what you want, child," Toriel sighed, waving over to Grillby, "Add it to my tab, can ya? I'll pay for it tomorrow."

"...Okay..." He said, not looking up at her.

"Let's get going then," Toriel said, turning in her stool and hopping off, making her way to the door.

Frisk followed eagerly, quickly walking after the short monster. The door shut behind them with a click as Toriel grabbed the human's hand, her left eye flickering a bright orange as her magic activated once again, whisking the two bodies away from the snow filled town.

And right into the heart of the castle.

"So then," Toriel said, letting go of Frisk's hand before shoving her hand into her hoodie pockets, "What's your plan, Frisk? I don't know the castle very well and you don't either, and unless we enter a fight with him, we can't see his soul."

"Well, do you know where the King is?" Frisk asked Toriel.

"He should be in the throne room," She said, "We'll just have to look at every room until we find him, unless you have a better plan. I got nothing, really."

"Can you take me to him? I can make him an offer while you go look for Sans."

"Are you crazy?" Toriel hissed, grabbing her shoulders, "That's a _terrible_ idea! Did you listen to my story at all? I'm trying to protect you, not get you killed!"

"I'm going to make him an offer!" Frisk said, "If he gets the final soul, he'll have to let Sans go! Then Sans can be free with you and-"

"Child," Toriel said, "That's stupid, you'll die!"

"I really care about Sans!" Frisk argued, "And the reason why I jumped down into the mountain was to kill myself, Toriel, so I honestly don't care. Just get him and leave, hide him in your house!"

"But I made a promise to-"

"To what?" Frisk asked, "Protect me? You failed your first promise, and I don't want to see Sans upset! I know I haven't known him for too long, but he really feels like a brother to me, and I don't want him to be a prisoner when I could've done something. I already left the ruins, a monster is going to eventually find out I fell down. Just go get him, and when the barrier opens, use your shortcuts to take him somewhere safe. I'll be fine."

"...Fine!" Toriel sighed, grabbing her arm as her left eye glew once more.

And they appeared in the front of the throne room doors.

"Right through these doors is the King," Toriel explained to Frisk, "He's **determined** to free the Monsters. I know I can't stop you, but stay safe, please."

"The whole point is to die," Frisk said, taking in a deep breath, "But thank you, for leading me this far. Tell Sans I said thank you."

"...I will," Toriel said, looking away as Frisk opened the door before she vanished into thin air.

Leaving the last fallen human to face the King of all Monsters.

~~~~~~

Sans had refused to talk to anyone the three hours he had been up.

He simply lay there on the bed, his white eyes staring down at the carpet. He wouldn't get up to walk around, read, anything, he didn't move. Whenever someone walked in, his eye sockets went blank, and he ignored them. So far, Papyrus had come in four times, a Royal Guard member named Undyne had come in to introduce herself to the Prince, and those were his only visitors. None of them got a response, or even a glance from the skeleton. He was stubborn, that was one of Sans strong personality traits.

He could hear footsteps outside of his room, but he didn't bother to move. He was hoping he could just sink into the shadows of his robe and die, he couldn't handle all of the memories this room brought. He was on the verge of tears yet again, but he blinked them away.

He couldn't cry here, he had to keep himself calm.

He could hear door after door being swung open, which made him confused. Who was opening all of the doors outside, and what for? Was someone looking for something?

And finally, his room door swung open.

"Sans!" Toriels voice called out.

He frowned at her voice. After what she had did, he didn't want to look at her.

Every monster in his life made his life worse, he didn't want to be near monsters anymore. He missed the ruins, where they were so afraid of him they wouldn't talk to him. He liked that, the enjoyable silence.

So, once again, he didn't move to face the intruder. He simply pulled the robe hood over so it could cover more of his face.

"Sans, it's me Toriel!" Toriel said, walking up to the bed and kneeling on it, shaking his body, "Sans, C'mon!"

"...Go away..." Sans finally said, not moving.

"I'm here to get you out, Sans!" Toriel said.

"And why should I trust you?" Sans asked her, finally looking over his shoulder to lock eyes with her, "You sold me out for what, money? Fame?"

"I know, I screwed up," Toriel said, "Really badly, I know, but I'm sorry. And I'm going to get you out, then we can escape together and work this out!"

"And go where?" Sans muttered.

"I didn't tell anyone that you were in the ruins," Toriel said, "But we should get going quick, Frisk is talking to the King right now!

"What?" Sans asked, perking up.

"We'll have to grab her and use a shortcut," Toriel said, "So let's go!"

"But I'm chained here!" Sans said, pulling away the blanket to reveal the magical chain.

"Crap," Toriel whispered, "Um, I don't have the key, and I don't think we have enough time to go find it. So, you'll just have to stick to using your legs to running fast enough, I'll destroy the bed post so you can drag it behind you."

Toriel surged her magic through her hands, summoning a small fire ball above her hands. She then pressed them against the wood and watched it turn to ashes, falling to the side and freeing Sans from the constraints of his room. He quickly stood up, grabbing the chain and walking out of the room.

"Where are they now?" He asked Toriel with **determination** seeping through his bones.

"In the throne room!" Toriel quickly said.

For the first time in a long time, Sans sprinted. He usually walked, or speed-walked, but running wasn't often something he did. The ruins were pretty small once you got used to them, so he never found any reason to run, except for when he had to test Frisk.

"I know a shortcut!" Toriel said, trying to keep up with him.

"I know this castle like the back on my bones," Sans said, "I know the short cut there as well, just follow me."

Toriel felt frustrated. She didn't know what to do. What would happen if Sans got out with Frisk? He'd never trust her, and he'd probably be caught again. And there was no way the human would survive against Papyrus. He was too far in his plan to spare them, and they probably didn't have much fighting abilities. She'd be dead after some time.

They burst into the Throne room, Toriel slightly out of breath. And the sight was horrifying to Sans.

Frisk was beaten up on the ground, huffing and puffing. She had only one mere hit point left, a small blood trail seeping from her mouth. An utter look or horror was spread across her face she she looked up at the skeleton King, who was holding a bone in his head with a sad expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, human," He said, raising the bone above his head.

"Kiddo!" Sans yelled.

And for Toriel, everything happened in slow motion.

Sans ran forward as the bone was slowly moving towards the human child, her eyes widening as Sans stepped in front of her, his back facing Papyrus as his body absorbed the hit meant for her, knocking his H.P down to 0.

"SANS!" Toriel and Frisk both yelled at the same time as he fell to his knees, blood seeping from the wound and from his mouth.

"B-Brother?" Papyrus asked, his eyes watering as he realized what mistake he had just made.

"Y-You alright, Kid?" Sans coughed out, his bones trembling as he slowly started to dust away, "Ya know, being in the ruins was pretty lonely without you around, so I don't want to repeat that."

His body fully dusted, leaving his dust covered robe on the ground. Hovering above it was his white glowing soul, which shattered almost immediately.

"I'm so sorry!" Papyrus sobbed, covering his face as tears streamed put of his eye sockets.

Toriel covered her mouth, sniffing as the tears from earlier reappeared in her eyes.

"Sans!" Frisk sobbed into the robe, "I swear I won't lose you!"

Toriel's eyes widened as a glowing reset button appeared under her hand, it glowing brighter as she clicked on it.

"Wait," Toriel yelled, "You can rese-"

**Reset**

Toriel gasped, sitting up in her bed. She was in her room once again, the faint smell of pie dusting her senses. She glanced over at her calendar, looking at the date.

The date the human fell down, a few days before the events of what had happened.

"She knows how to reset..." Toriel whispered to herself.

She found a new source of **determination** within her soul as she narrowed her eyes.

This reset, she wouldn't make the same mistakes.


End file.
